I just bought my first focus, an 04 zx3 with 54k on it and a vortech supercharger. I will be picking it up Wednsday and driving about an hour and a half home, so I think that should give me a good feeling for the car. However in just under a month I will be driving about 5.5 - 6 hrs up into the German/Swiss/Austrian Alps and then another 5.5 - 6 back, assuming no hidden issues pop up in the mean time. I will of course be changing my oil, cleaning my air filter and checking my coolant level/condition before hand. What else would you suggest I do in preperation for a long trip? Are there any things that are prone to breakage that I should be aware of?

Also the exhaust is very loud, it has FS longtube race headers and a borla cat-back with no cat. Normally I wouldn't mind the sound too much, but this is going to be 5.5 - 6 hrs of the exhaust drone on the autobahn, It is going to get quite old very quickly I imagine. Any Ideas on a way to quiet it down for the trip, short of putting the factory manifold and converter back on it? If I do end up putting the factory parts back on for the trip, will it mess with the tune very much?